Labels: BeyondtheBox, cinemalaya, CLICKTHECITY, digital films, indie films, joselito altarejos, pink halo-halo
Labels: allen dizon, angeli bayani, BeyondtheBox, cinemalaya, digital films, edgar o. cruz, filipino films, indie films, joselito altarejos, Mark Xander Fabillar, pink halo-halo, stir.ph
Labels: allen dizon, altarejos, angeli bayani, joselito altarejos
In Joselito “Jay” Altarejos’ latest gender-bending drama, “Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan,” destiny also delivers low blows to the dreams and big-city aspirations of 25-year-old Juan Reyes aka Erwin (Ray An Dulay). After three years of odd jobs and missed opportunities, the protagonist’s misadventures in the metropolis have left him barely hanging by a thread. In gritty cinéma vérité fashion, the film follows Erwin on the day before he leaves the cruel urban jungle for good. He’s convinced there’s a better future waiting for him in his otherwise impoverished hometown in Masbate. Unsurprisingly, the fateful day turns out to be an emotional roller-coaster ride for Erwin as he exchanges pleasantries with his neighbors, then bids his lover, Noel, goodbye. It’s also Erwin’s last day at Inner Sanctum, the seedy underground gay bar where he works as a live-sex performer. However, after his final show—and just as he’s about to leave the club—something happens that weakens his resolve to turn a new leaf. Altarejos’ latest gay-themed scorcher tackles risqué subject matter with sensitivity and uncompromising vision—but, like “Lalaki sa Parola” and “Lihim ni Antonio,” it is not for everyone. Fortunately, “Laro” is a notch above the well-meaning but ultimately unsuccessful “Little Man, Big Man” or the thematically featherweight “Kambyo.” For the most part, Dulay does well as Juan/Erwin, but holds back in some highly charged dramatic moments that require more urgency and commitment from him. The other notable portrayal is turned in by Richard Quan, who plays the sympathetic undercover agent in the finale’s good cop-bad cop scenario. Commentary Jay weaves a clear and briskly paced tale. He puts his storytelling dexterity and visual flair to good use as he subtly shifts from one social commentary to another. However, the needlessly protracted dance sequence could have used some trimming. Moreover, the provocative scenes he conjures up onscreen won’t sit well with conservative viewers, but they do come with a cautionary message—and a warning: Scenes that depict violence or graphic sex are never a pretty sight. Labels: altarejos, ang laro ng buhay ni juan, digital films, filipino films, gay films, indie films, joselito altarejos, Lex Bonife, ray an dulay, richard quan
Labels: altarejos, ang laro ng buhay ni juan, BeyondtheBox, digital films, fi, gay films, indie films, joselito altarejos, Lex Bonife, ray an dulay
Labels: altarejos, ang laro ng buhay ni juan, BeyondtheBox, digital films, indie films, joselito altarejos, juan, Lex Bonife
CLICKTHECITY REVIEWS PINK HALO-HALO
by Philbert Ortiz Dy
posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 in Indie Films
There are no surprises in Joselito Altarejos’ Pink Halo-Halo. In fact, the synopsis on the schedule brochure pretty much gives away the ending. But that’s hardly the point of the film. Here, Altarejos shares with us a recollection of life as a soldier’s son, delivering a lyrical slice of life picture that explores the rhythms of childhood against a backdrop of creeping dread.
Altarejos plays on the dichotomies, the child Natoy living an almost idyllic life in his hometown while endless conflict terrorizes other parts of the country. It points to the striking truth that for most people, news of war and strife almost serves as background noise, the narratives only becoming real as the people they love become subject to tragedy. It’s a terribly sophisticated insight into our country’s precipitous decline into a culture of violence. This isn’t the most explosive film of the festival, but it’s quietly devastating in its own way.A REVIEW ON PINK HALO-HALO
by: Edgar O. Cruz | STIR Editor in Chief
16 Jul 2010 | 11:03 AM
Joselito “Jay” Altarejos’ Pink Halo-Halo is the real liberated indie film at the Sixth Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. With the compelling theme of Liberating indie film, the filmfest is currently rolling and I got to watch three full-length features: Magkakapatid, Pink Halo-Halo and Sampaguita, National Flower in that order. Looking for the new indie film, I find nothing out-of-the-box with Kim Garcia and Francis Pasion’s movies. But it is Pink Halo-Halo that tries and succeeds in getting out of the indie film mold told in a gay boy’s fondness for halo-halo.
Pink Halo-Halo is independenly produced with filmmaker Altarejos as producer, writer and director. A gay film, a genre which Altarejos has been specializing almost exclusively and doing a good job at elevating the genre and perceptions about gay men, it is without a single naked man and titillating sequence. It is about Natoy confronting his sexuality as a normal boy and his developing sexuality. It does this by showing scenes such cutting a piece of paper into dolls, learning how to apply makeup, fingering a beauty product catalogue – all told as motions, no dialogue.
Subject is dark alright: the death of the boy’s soldier father in Mindanao. But it does not beat corruption, injustice, poverty, exploitation, politics – the range of subjects most dear to indie films – to a pulp. It stays a simple story of a mother and a boy coping with a soldier’s life. It is without drama, just a bunch of people going through the motions of what life brings like going to the wake of dead comrades. Or fixing the motorcycle which seems the only luxury in this soldier’s life.
It is in Tigaonon, the dialect of Ticao Island off Masbate, all throughout and uses the townpeople as actors. Lead actor is Paolo Constantino as Natoy who does not have acting background and was not drilled on the craft before shoot. Proffesional actors Allen Dizon, Dexter Doria, and Angeli Bayani do the adult parts. This is in the tradition of Vitorio De Sica’s Italian Neo-Realist films which works very well for the movie’s purpose and intent.
For once, an indie film touches on the nobility of the human spirit in time of tragedy as very well told in the dialogue-less ending sequence with the townspeople meeting the dead soldier’s casket at the wharf. It is without histrionics, just the resignations there’s no escape in the tragedy. It is even without mood shots with nature very much incorporated into the scene.
***Also published in The Daily Tribune.7.03.2010
PINK HALO-HALO: Cinemalaya 2010
Please support my Cinemalaya entry Pink Halo-Halo at the Cultural Center of the Philippines from July 10-18.
THE TRAILER:
INFO SHEET:
See you there!!!10.25.2009
NOW SHOWING: Heady romantic summers, broken dreams in provocative dramas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Missed opportunities 10.22.2009
Great Review on Juan
Ray an Dulay & Nico Antonio in the goodbye sceneAng laro ng buhay ni juanAce Ricafort’s frontal nudity is a featured moment in Joselito Altarejos’ “Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan,” screening exclusively at Robinson’s Cinemas (Galleria and Manila) starting tomorrow, Oct. 21.
Ace is the daring newbie who plays the in-demand sex worker Badong, one of the live sex show performers called the Tupada Boys at the Inner Sanctum gay bar. His attention-grabbing portion, however, does not steal from the raw depiction of marginalized Pinoys living on the edge, like Tupada Boy Juan (Ray An Dulay) alias Erwin, Jr., and Jason according to the sex worker’s code of assuming several identities.
“Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan” is Altarejos’ first foray into the real time mode of filmmaking. After the surrealism of “Ang Lalake Sa Parola,” the shock of “Ang Lihim ni Antonio,” the peek into discreet gay life in “Kambyo” and “Little Boy, Big Boy,” Altarejos turns full circle to stir the styles of past films in another interpretation of the secret life of bisexuals in Armando “Bing” Lao’s real time as interpreted in the script of Lex Bonife and Peping Salonga and produced by Altarejos’ own BEYONDtheBOX film production company.
“Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan” explores two hours in the life of Juan in the big city, who is forced to go back to his hometown Masbate. Juan takes us into his “hole-in-the-wall” shelter in the backstreets of high-rises to meet marginalized Pinoys breaking the survival code with character types like unwed mother Mercy (Angeli Bayani, 2008 Cinemanila’s Asian Best Actress) and his endo lover Noel (Nico Antonio of “Minsan Pa” and “Kubrador” cast, who returns to the big screen after joining Star Magic as a VOIZboys crew).
The film asks whether man’s destiny is presented or self-made. Juan decides to go back to the province to be with his sick mother and not return as he is living a wasted life. He wants to leave so he breaks his decision to Noel. But a raid mars his last show when police take his money and rubbers earned from selling his body so he will not be arrested. As he cannot return to his mother, he is left with the option to return to Noel.
Contrasts play an important part in this film. The day part explores the discreet gay life of Juan and Noel that ends in a no-fuss teary farewell scene. The night part exposes what discreet gays working as sex workers do. Daytime photography is bathed in glaring sun, while nighttime is candlelit as if to hide its dark secrets. The city’s rotting; its survivors may live under miserable circumstances but where they work, there’s a chandelier and a grand staircase — glam witnesses of their glum lives.
Ray An and Nico interpret their characters in contrasting style.
Ray An is almost mechanical, under-acting, while Nico is emotional, playing it to hilt for maximum effect in the separation scene. This is a very touching interaction between men who love one another and are not compelled to flaunt it except to themselves. The masculine Nico appears in half-naked and kisses Ray An on the lips. This is clearly his best performance in a full-length feature to date, short but driven to the point. Many may be turned off by Ray An’s performance, but it is true to character.
Altarejos attacks the scenes as dispassionately as possible. There are scenes which he could have exploited, but he cuts as soon as he establishes the scene’s purpose — the mark of a mature helmer. This is perhaps the reason the MTRCB gave it an R-18 classification despite the masturbation, blow job, frontal nudity and strong language. He proves in this movie he’s an indie filmmaker in the real sense of the term. He pushes the director work to the extreme like what German poet Rainier Maria Rilke said is necessary to come up with a master work.
Suggesting fate is the work of a whimsical if random higher being in his game with humans as his objects, “Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan” poses the idea that male-to-male sex workers are discreet gays. In local gay films, they are usually depicted as straight guys who feed on gay fantasies, but as Altarejos boldly suggests otherwise in this film. This fresh interpretation is that they are homosexuals having a late awakening, recognition, and/or acceptance. They like what they are doing. If not, why do they stick to the job? This is a reinforcement of the film’s original idea of humans as playthings.
But there’s something that’s uniform in this movie. Mercedes picks up the rice thrown off her hands by a rushing body; Noel picks up the mixed cookies from a can that spilled when inspected by a raider. He had intended it as pasalubong. It seems this is the code of feeding to the marginalized. It’s not even hand-to-mouth existence, but what you may call as floor-to-mouth subsistence. This is where Altarejos excels — having a good understanding of material and a fearless attitude to tell it. “Ang Lalake Sa Parola” was my favorite Altarejos movie; “Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan” changed this! A Negrense writes about Juan
Sometimes a movie comes and reminds us that for a film to be memorable, it should not be important that the actors be excessively good looking and that the plot be filled with twists and turns and complexity as what most audience expect. There are times that all it needs is a touch of realism and the feeling that one is not watching but rather experiencing what is showing onscreen. That is what makes LARO NG BUHAY NI JUAN tick!
For two hours, I was taken back to the slums of Manila where I myself was able to live a few years back. One could almost feel the glaring heat of daylight; could almost smell the decaying scent of a mixture of countless odors; could hear the mingled noises in front of the unending sound of traffic in Edsa. All these images projected to the watcher with the subliminal signals that the director, Jay Altarejos, whether purposely or not signals the viewer on what to watch out for!
The simple style of the opening credits did not impress me at first, until i realized that its simplicity gave the audience the needed ticket to be in the story. Ray-an Dulay's acting was superb in its reality with nuances that gave him credibility. The word PSYCHO in front of the parked jeepney paralleled my observation on the craziness of what was transpiring in front of me; the word PRIVATE at the back of another jeep prepares you for the private/intimate life of who Juan really was. And the almost manic grabbing of Edwin's hair by his lover (Nico Antonio) as if it would somehow get him to stay breaks your heart much like the irony of the spilled rice bought from borrowed "trenta" when free rice is being given out by a would be politician.
In comparison to the blinding light of the day scenes come the dark shadows of the night scenes. Here we feel the tension of the streets, the secrets that lurks in corners and the secrets we all would want to keep. Yes, there are full frontal nudity, but they are much needed to show each viewer that they are but voyeurs in the life of Juan.
I give kudos to direk Jay, for sharing with us a vision that otherwise we tend to forget. I refuse to declare if this is his best work considering that there are certainly more to come and that this is his first foray with a realtime feature but then this work has already a place in my own collection.
I am not a film critic but merely an avid fan but what disturbs me was that I did not just watch the film, but I was taken from my seat at the moviehouse and transported to where a lot of dreamers had been finding themselves in time and again, and what my past could have been; by sharing with me a treasured glimpse of the LARO NG BUHAY NI JUAN.
